why is quant score typically greater than verbal?

Hey Aleph,

Good question - and it actually brings up why I've never been much of a fan of thinking in terms of "scaled scores", much preferring percentiles.

The scales for the scaled scores are different - both have a stated band of 0-60, but in actuality the upper ranges (52+) are "saved" for expansion of the test's difficulty, so the scores max out at 51. But on the quant side, 51 is the lone score that corresponds to the 99th percentile, whereas on the verbal side the range of 46-51 is all considered 99th percentile. You can see the whole scale at the official GMAT website: https://www.mba.com/mba/TheGMAT/GMATScor ... gMeans.htm

So a 46-46 isn't really a balanced score...it's a better verbal performance than a quant performance. What really matters on this test is how your performance compares to that of other examinees.